News Release
Northern Map Project Will Attract Investors, Help Fight Cancer
August 20, 2009
McGuinty Government Supports Harvest Of Cancer Fighting Shrub
NEWS
A new mapping project to highlight the location and quantity of Canada Yew shrub in the Michipicoten area will attract investors and boost local economic activity.
Canada Yew is a local shrub (also known as hemlock) and can be used to produce drugs that fight certain cancers. This development has created a demand for harvesting parts of the shrub.
Through the support of the Northern Communities Investment Readiness (NCIR), the townships of Chapleau and White River will lead this mapping project to help bring new businesses into their communities to harvest the plant and establish a processing plant locally.
QUOTES
“This project is an example of the great potential northern forests hold for the development of biomedical and a whole range of bio-based products.”
- Mike Brown, MPP for Algoma-Manitoulin
“Northern communities are finding the NCIR program to be an effective tool for identifying opportunities for economic diversification.”
- Michael Gravelle, Minister Northern Development, Mines and Forestry
QUICK FACTS
- The province supported this initiative with $10,000 in funding from the NCIR program.
- Canada Yew is a coniferous shrub that has reddish-brown bark and flat needles. It ranges in size from a few centimetres to over three metres.
- In July, through The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, a Sault Ste. Marie company started establishing a pilot facility to develop methods to extract the natural compounds of yew to produce Paclitaxel, a drug used in the treatment of certain cancers.
- About Chapleau
- About the GO North Program.
Mike Dunlop, NCIR Initiative, 807-475-1773
ontario.ca/north-news
158, NCIR;M09-0097
